Research

History of Art at UCL is a research-led department with an international reputation for rigorous teaching programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. In the last Research Assessment Exercise (2014) the department submitted 100% of its teaching staff and achieved the outstanding result of having 85% of its work judged at the 4* or 3* level. The research produced in the department was recognized as world leading and internationally excellent. The research environment was also recognised as diverse, dynamic, and innovative.

The Department’s academic focus is on research and teaching excellence within a chronological span from c. 1100 to the present in relation to the art of the western tradition and its global encounters. Research strengths include:

materials and materiality

sexuality and the body

media and technologies

politics and the stakes of history

contemporary art and critical theory

The Department is recognised for its long-standing commitment to critical theory. Our research engages with active debates around phenomenology, film theory, psychoanalytic theory, and Marxist and feminist traditions of art history.

Our academic work attracts outstanding students from across the world. Graduates have gone on to successful careers in teaching and research, museums and galleries, publishing, and library and visual resource management.